fiscal cliff, but is that optimism justified even if the senate can can come together and craft a deal? a very big if at this point and what are the chances that house speaker john boehner can get members of his congress to go along with the deal. joining me now perry bacon and lynn sweet. i want to start with you because i read something that you wrote an article recently in which you said basically that the rumors of the tea party's demise have been greatly exaggerated noting their key role in refusing to go along with john boehner's tax plan to raise taxes on those making more than $1 million a year. the fiscal cliff debate has illustrated then during influence of the tea party and the power of the conservative party. boehner can't guarantee that his members won't face primary challenges from the right so there's little surprise they won't follow his lead. >> mcconnell's not going agree to something that all other republicans are opposed to because he's a republican, too, and he has to worry about a primary, potentially, as well. the core of this is a lot of people are asking why wo